IMS Redux

Last month, in this space, we touched upon the significance of — and the tremendous opportunity presented by — IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). It was yet another chance for me to tout the mantra, “It’s all about the services.”

I just returned from Supercomm, and wouldn’t you know it — one of the major themes of the show was IMS. It seemed that everyone was jumping aboard the IMS bandwagon (unless you were selling IPTV, that is).

Sonus Networks, no stranger to cutting edge service provider offerings, announced their IMS solution at the show. The company made the point, however, that since their products were essentially born and bred to “do IP,” the product line on offer from Sonus is IMS ready and has been since day one. Key components in the Sonus IMS solution include its existing products: the GSX family, PSX, SGX, ASX and Insight Management Systems.

In an announcement timed for the event, Sonus launched its new IMX Application Platform designed to further extend its service creation capabilities into the IMS environment. A quick look at the announcement tells us that “… the Sonus IMX Application Platform is a Web-based multimedia environment that enables wireline and wireless service providers to rapidly develop, integrate, launch, and manage enhanced telecommunication applications and services.”

According to Hassan Ahmed, chairman and CEO of Sonus Networks, “IMS is the industry’s first framework that allows wireline and wireless operators to leverage the disruptive force of broadband, breaking down the former barriers to service delivery and opening the door for the delivery of new services. The power of IMS is that it allows for a truly presence-enabled network and represents a profound change in the way service providers offer communication services.”

As a major player in next-generation networking, it’s imperative that Sonus stake a claim in the IMS space. Seems to me they’re right on track.

In related news, Ericsson’s IMS solution has been selected by TDC (the Danish service provider). The solution will allow TDC to offer its fixed network customers various services including IP telephony and IP Centrex to business users.

The IMS-based IP Centrex solution comprises a complete set of personal and group services, with support for such services as video telephony, conference calling, collaboration, presence management, instant messaging, e-mail integration, and support for remote workers.

Dan Sörensson, executive vice president of TDC Solutions, had this to say: “In the years to come, many of our customers will add IP and mobile telephony to their communication needs. Ericsson’s IMS solution supports our strategy to offer new convergent and innovative services for our customers, no matter what access network they are using.”